Management of Behçet's syndrome

Endovascular treatment with in-vitro fenestration and sac filling technique for ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm with Behcet's disease

Purpose

We provided an endovascular strategy of treating ruptured aortic aneurysm with Behcet’s Disease.

Case report

A 25-year-old man was diagnosed ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm with Behcet’s Disease according to his eye damage history, high level of ESR and C-reactive protein and the imaging result. We used in-vitro fenestration of the stent-graft combined with in-stent technique to occlude the ruptured aortic aneurysm and preserve the blood supply from the aorta for visceral arteries in emergency. Sac filling technique was used to treat the endoleak to quickly prevent bleeding. The patient kept post-operative immunotherapy for 1 year.

Conclusion

The patient had a good prognosis in the reduction of the cavity of aortic aneurysm to the normal size without any complications in a year follow-up.

Isolated brachial artery aneurysm successfully treated with a covered stent in a patient with Behçet's disease

Behçet's disease is a vasculitic pathology characterized by skin lesions, genital ulcers, aphthous stomatitis, and uveitis. Arterial aneurysms are rare in this disease. Herein, we report a rare case of an isolated brachial artery aneurysm with a history of Behçet's disease treated with endovascular covered stenting of the brachial artery.

Interferon-α2a treatment for refractory Behçet's disease

We report a young male patient with Behçet's disease who suffered from sight-threatening recurrences under treatment with azathioprine, cyclosporine, and prednisolone. His uveitis responded well to antitumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha (adalimumab) for 5 months subsequently. Severe uveitis recurred soon after discontinuation of anti-TNF alpha therapy and could not be controlled well with reinstitution of the anti-TNF alpha therapy. Interferon-α2a (IFN-α2a) was then given along with low-dose oral prednisone (10 mg/day), and the uveitis responded well to this therapy. We continued a maintenance dose with of IFN-α2a three times/week for 2 years. Sight-threatening uveitis did not recur under IFN-α2a therapy, and the visual acuity improved from “counting fingers” to 20/100 in the right eye, while remaining stable with 20/20 vision in the left eye. The patient had flu-like symptoms, fever, and severe depression during IFN therapy, but an attempt to discontinue INF led to relapse within 1 month. This case report suggests that IFN-α2a could be an option for treatment in Behçet's uveitis. Further study is needed to clarify the efficacy and appropriate strategy for IFN-α2a therapy for Behçet's uveitis in Taiwan.

Gastrointestinal Involvement in Behçet Disease

Behçet disease (BD) is a variable vessel vasculitis that can involve several organs and systems. Gastrointestinal (GI) involvement has an acute exacerbating course with ulcers, most commonly in the ileocolonic area. These ulcers can be large and deep, causing perforation and massive bleeding. This article highlights the current knowledge on the epidemiology, clinical findings, diagnosis, and management of GI involvement of BD, with emphasis on recent findings.

Endovascular Treatment of Behcet Disease With Recurrent Infrainguinal Arterial Pseudoaneurysms: A Case Report and Literature Review

Aneurysm or pseudoaneurysm formation is one of the vascular complications of Behcet disease. At present, the optimal treatment for the disease has not been established.The authors report a case of vasculo-Behcet disease (v-BD) with recurrent pseudoaneurysms in the left infrainguinal arteries (common femoral artery, superficial femoral artery, and popliteal artery), as well as thrombosis in the popliteal vein and posterior tibial vein. The patient underwent 3 rounds of surgery, but developed a new pseudoaneurysm several months after each surgery. Eventually, the patient was successfully treated with a combination of endovascular repair, using a fully covered stent graft, and prednisone. The pseudoaneurysm regressed without recurrence for more than 1 year.For v-BD, treatment with immunosuppressive therapy alone may not be sufficient to prevent the recurrence of pseudoaneurysms. For the endovascular treatment of pseudoaneurysms affecting the infrainguinal arteries in v-BD, a fully covered stent graft without oversizing is essential to prevent the recurrence of pseudoaneurysms.

Characteristics, Treatment, and Long-Term Outcome of Gastrointestinal Involvement in Behcet's Syndrome: A Strobe-Compliant Observational Study From a Dedicated Multidisciplinary Center

Gastrointestinal involvement is rare in Behçet's syndrome (BS) patients from the Mediterranean basin. We report the demographic and disease characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcome of patients with gastrointestinal involvement in BS (GIBS). We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all BS patients in our BS clinic with a diagnosis of GIBS. Patients were invited to the clinic to assess their outcome. Among 8763 BS patients, we identified 60 with GIBS (M/F: 32/28, mean age at diagnosis: 34 ± 10, mean follow-up: 7.5 ± 4 years), after excluding 22 patients with mimicking symptoms. Six (10%) had juvenile-onset BS. The most common intestinal localization was ileocecal region (36/59, 61%) mainly as big oval ulcer/s. Initial treatment was azathioprine for moderate to severe (n = 37) and 5-ASA for mild cases (n = 16). Anti-TNFs and/or thalidomide provided remission in 12 of 18 (67%) refractory patients. Emergency surgery was required in 22 patients. Nine patients did not receive postoperative immunomodulators and 8 relapsed. Overall, 48 of 60 (80%) patients were in remission (29/48 without treatment) at the time of survey. Three recently treated and 2 refractory patients were still active, 3 had died due to non-GI-related reasons, and 4 were lost to follow-up. Careful evaluation for excluding mimickers is important during the diagnosis of GIBS. Azathioprine seems to be a good choice as first-line treatment with high remission rates and few adverse events. Thalidomide and/or TNF-alpha antagonists may be preferred in resistant cases. Surgery may be required for perforations or massive bleeding, and postoperative immunosuppressive treatment is necessary for preventing postoperative recurrences.

Development of de novo major involvement during follow-up in Behçet's syndrome

The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of de novo major involvement during follow-up in a cohort of patients with Behçet's syndrome (BS); the secondary aim was to analyse the epidemiological profile and the long-term outcome of those patients who developed new major involvement. Among our cohort of 120 BS patients, we evaluated all subjects who had no major organ involvement during the early years of their disease; specifically, at disease onset, the 52% of the cohort presented a prevalent mucocutaneous involvement. The primary outcomes were represented by the following: Hatemi et al. (Rheum Dis Clin North Am 39(2):245-61, 2013) the incidence of de novo major involvement during the follow-up and Hatemi et al. (Clin Exp Rheumatol 32(4 Suppl 84):S112-22, 2014) the use of immunosuppressive drugs during the follow-up. We have defined the development of de novo major involvement during the follow-up as the occurrence of severe ocular, vascular or CNS involvement after a latency period from the diagnosis of at least 3 years. Among 62 patients characterized by a mild onset of disease, we observed that after at least 3 years from the diagnosis, 21 BS patients (34%) still developed serious morbidities. Specifically, three patients developed ocular involvement, nine patients developed neurological involvement and nine patients presented vascular involvement. Comparing main epidemiological and clinical findings of the two groups, we observed that patients who developed de novo major involvement were more frequently males and younger; furthermore, 95% of these patients were characterized by a young onset of disease (p < 0.001). Being free of major organ complication in the first years of BS is not necessary a sign of a favourable outcome. Globally, the development of de novo major involvement during the coursfce of BS suggests that a tight control is strongly recommended during the course of the disease.